The consumption of fruits, vegetables and fibre-rich foods is very important for humans to maintain good health. Authorities and health organisations have repeatedly pointed to the importance of eating sufficient fruits, vegetables and fibre-rich foods in an attempt to prevent diseases such as obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases from occurring. Despite all such efforts, the consumption of fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich foods continues to be low and diseases like obesity and diabetes are taking epidemic forms. For a group of subjects, the low consumption of fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich food is likely to be caused by a disorder called food neophobia.
Food neophobia is an eating disorder sometimes referred to as “fussy or picky eating” disorder. As the word ‘neo’, means ‘new’, and the word ‘phobia’ means fear, it quite literally means a fear of trying new things. Food neophobia is particularly common in toddlers and young children. Generally, children will overcome food neophobia during their adolescence and teenage years. However, many subjects continue to have food neophobia as an adult.
It seems that the liking of the typical taste and/or flavours of acid fruits, bitter vegetables or bitter whole grain cereal products can be stimulated by exposing infants and/or toddlers to these tastes and flavours, early, gradually and stepwise. In WO2007/091886 for example, is disclosed the use of different vegetables and fruits for administration to an infant for stimulating the consumption of vegetables and fruits later in life. In Birch L L, Gunder L, Grimm-Thomas L, Infant's consumption of a new food enhances acceptance of similar foods, Appetite 30 (1998), p. 283-295, it is disclosed that exposing infants to a fruit puree increases the acceptance of other fruit purees and exposing infants to vegetables increases their acceptance of other vegetable purees. In Blossfeld I et al, Relationships between acceptance of sour taste and fruit intakes in 18-month-old infants, Br. J. Nutr. 98 (2007), p. 1084-1091, a relationship between sour acceptance and fruit intake is shown. In Mennella J A, Beauchamp G K; J Dev Behav Pediatr. 17 (1996), p. 386-391, it is mentioned that for improving the acceptance of bitter taste it appears important to introduce infants very early in life to bitter tasting formula.
In Gerrish C J, and Mennella J A, Flavor variety enhances food acceptance in formula fed infants. Am. J. Clin. Nutr, 73 (2001), p. 1080-1085, it is shown that exposing infants to a variety of pureed vegetables enhances the acceptance of novel foods in human infants. In Maier A. S. et al., Breastfeeding and experience with variety early in weaning increase infants' acceptance of new foods for up to two months, Clinical Nutrition 27 (2008), 849-85, it is disclosed that the effect of exposure to a variety of vegetables at weaning on new food acceptance is still visible up to 2 months after the intervention. The latter study also shows that, in a given period, the number of daily changes rather than the number of different foods led to a later higher acceptance of new foods. In other words, introducing at least 3 different new foods over e.g. 9 days by offering a different food from one day to another, leads to a later greater acceptance of new foods than presenting each food over a period of 3 consecutive days.
It can thus be concluded that exposure of infants and toddlers early in life to a variety of different tastes is important for stimulating the liking of a broad range of food.